Under My Thumb: Brian Selznick on Control

Sep 17, 2025

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“When you're a kid, you have so little control over things. To be the big entity controlling the smaller entity, whether it's dolls or [toy] soldiers or whatever it is, they do what you tell them to do. They become the story you are making.” — Brian Selznick

We all want to feel in control, mold our lives and experiences, and shape the world into something we can hold. But control is slippery; one moment, it can steady us, the next, it slips away.

Brian Selznick—#1 New York Times bestselling author, illustrator, and Caldecott Medal winner—has spent his career playing with this tension. From "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" to "Wonderstruck" and, most recently, "Run Away With Me," Brian believes that it's his job as the author to control the reader's experience, forcing page turns and placing illustrations in a particular order, all while acknowledging that control is ceded to the reader once a book is in their hands.

In this episode, Under My Thumb: Brian Selznick on Control, Brian reflects on his lifelong pull toward control in life and art—what drives it, how it shapes his work, and when the need to let go becomes inevitable. He shares his fascination with all things miniature and opens up with unflinching honesty about his complicated relationship with his father, spanning life and loss. He also reveals a formative influence you might not expect, and a most extraordinary afternoon with Ray Bradbury.

Settle in for a fascinating, moving episode with one of the great creators of our time.

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For his reading challenge, Brian has curated two lists: one exploring queerness in literature over time and the other celebrating the power of the page turn. The latter is about his commitment to books, experimenting with form, and the balance of control between writer and reader.

Peruse selected titles and Brian's complete reading challenge for free at thereadingculturepod.com/brian-selznick

This week's Beanstack Featured Librarian is Chelsea Pisani, a rockstar children's librarian at Maple Valley Branch Library in Akron, Ohio. She shares the story of how one student, also with a keen ability to take control, is spreading his passion for reading among his peers by setting up his own book club.

Show Chapters
Chapter 1: Who Holds the Reins?

Chapter 2: Size Matters

Chapter 3: It's All Under Control

Chapter 4: Merwin and Louise

Chapter 5: The Martian Chronicles

Chapter 6: A Most Extraordinary Afternoon

Chapter 7: Reading Challenge

Chapter 8: Beanstack Featured Librarian

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Host and Production Credits

Host: Jordan Lloyd Bookey
Producers: Mel Webb, Ryan Sutton, and Lower Street Media
Script Editors: Josia Lamberto-Egan, Mel Webb, Ryan Sutton, Jordan Lloyd Bookey